National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan has called for the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) 'to seriously consider reviewing its culling programme for cats'.
Writing in his blog, Minister Khaw said that an elderly resident had gone to him last week to ask for help after her pet cat was caught by the AVA and was concerned that it will be culled.
"I told her AVA came under my Ministry and I would intervene," he said.
Minister Khaw added that the following day, the AVA checked and said that her cat was not with them and they would look out for it and return it to her should it be sent to AVA subsequently.
"Stray cats are a source of complaints in Housing Development Board (HDB) estates but killing them is not the best way to go," Minister Khaw wrote.
"The right thing is for cat lovers to own the problem, eliminate the nuisance created by irresponsible behaviour, and sterilise the cats to control their population."
"Where there are enough cat-lovers out there willing to own this problem, we can avoid culling in those estates," he added.
When AVA terminated their sterilisation programme in May 2003, volunteers took it upon themselves to sterilise stray cats.
Veron Lau, vice-president of the Cat Welfare Society (CWS) said, "The sterilisation supported by volunteers have helped seen culling numbers go down."
AVA confirmed this and said that the number of cats culled have indeed gone down from 6,800 in 2008 to 5,100 in 2010. AVA also agreed with Khaw and said, "As mentioned by Minister Khaw, AVA will review our approach to the management of stray cats in consultation with the Animal Welfare Groups."
While CWS can continue to support the sterilisation of cats, Lau feels that more must be done to curb the stray cats problem.
"There is not enough done in terms of educating the public."
Other than looking into a review of the cats culling programme, many cat lovers have also asked Minister Khaw to review the domestication of cats in HDB flats. Currently, HDB does not allow cats to be domesticated at home.
Ronald Ng posted on MND's Facebook wall and said, "I hope Mr Khaw would be more compassionate to allow HDB residents to domesticate cats and have more humane way to remove stray cats from the streets of Singapore in a decade (that's 2 terms)."
Minister Khaw also wrote that he will seek Minister of State Tan Chuan-Jin's help to work out a compassionate and mature approach towards the stray cats problem.
Tan told Yahoo! Singapore that "I don't believe that the default setting should be the culling of cats. There are several steps before we need to get there and working with interested groups is key in not only addressing the issue with strays, but to also humanely deal with the animals concerned."
NGOs such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) welcomed his suggestion.
"AVA could work together with animal welfare associations to help bring down the number of stray cats population but it would be more effective if they had the authorisation to do so in the first place," said Deirdre Moss, executive director of SPCA.
She added, "When the minister endorses it in a positive manner, I think it's great and positive step for animal welfare that he's commenting on this issue."
Dog lovers upset over stepped-up culling in Punggol
Animal lovers are upset after the authorities apparently intensified efforts to round up stray dogs at Punggol Waterway following an attack on a jogger there.
The jogger was scratched and bitten by stray dogs in the park last Wednesday. Since then, animal rights activists said, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has stepped up its efforts to trap and cull them.
In response, more than 25 activists on Tuesday morning gathered close to the spot where the attack occurred, to meet members of the media and protest against the trapping and culling.
Among them was Ms Pathrine Guo, 29, who stayed at the park for about an hour. She had found out about the gathering the day before on Facebook.
'When the news (about the attack on the jogger) came out last Thursday, it was expected that the culling would be intensified at Punggol,' Ms Guo said, adding that she has been going to the park twice a week for the past year to feed stray dogs. 'I understand from the workers there that the AVA goes down almost every day.'
The AVA said it has been carrying out operations in the area since September. Of the 26 dogs caught so far, four were rounded up after last week's incident. They will be put down as they have been deemed aggressive.
As some of the dogs have proved elusive, the AVA said it has also engaged external service providers to complement its efforts.
Pet lovers also took to social media to protest against the trapping and euthanasia. Some even paid the AVA's Centre for Animal Welfare and Control at Pasir Panjang a visit on Tuesday to try to 'bail out' the dogs, a process which requires payment of about $500 in fees. According to the activists, they were unsuccessful.
A Facebook group created on Monday that calls on the AVA and Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP Penny Low to 'give Punggol strays a chance' has already gained more than 450 'likes'.
Activists also petitioned Ms Low on her Facebook page, with more than 80 posts on the stray dogs so far. Some have written on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's page as well.
Meanwhile, animal welfare group Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD) is appealing for all to remain calm and rational. 'There shouldn't be a witch-hunt, a media frenzy or an overreaction,' said its president Ricky Yeo.
'The authorities need to act in the interest of public safety and that's why they stepped up operations... but we are trying to balance both sides.'
He said ASD is trying to negotiate the release of the captured strays with the AVA. 'Culling is a short-term measure that does not work - we need a multi-pronged approach where the Government lends support and harnesses non-governmental organisations on the ground to sterilise these strays. The pet trade also has to be regulated further because it is the source of abandoned dogs.'
The jogger told Channel NewsAsia last week that the incident happened on a footpath when a pack of nine dogs started clawing at her legs. She screamed when one bit her calf. Two other joggers who heard her scream approached and the dogs ran away.
I REFER to the report, 'AVA admits: Yes, we're culling stray cats' (ST, May 24).
I was terribly saddened and angered by the news. My parents and I are part of the AgriFood and Veterinary Authority's (AVA's) Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme, and we have put in much effort in the past few years to help sterilise the cats in our neighbourhood.
We not only provide food for the cats, but also play our part in keeping the surroundings clean by putting the food on dried leaves, and placing these on open fields where no one usually walks.
In the many years that I have been helping to take care of the stray cats, I have been cheered many times by their delightful personalities and their unconditional affection once they start to trust me.
Many of these cats have become my friends and, if I could, I would take them all home.
Miss Harleen Kaur is glad to see them go because she is scared of cats.
Is being scared of something justification for killing it?
Cats are naturally clean animals, and they know how to bury their faeces.
I have seen many cats doing their business on grass fields, after which they cover up.
People tend to blame stray cats whenever they see something dirty.
For example, after a lantern-festival celebration, the park near my place was littered with tidbit packets, drink cans and candle wax.
My mum and I were walking in the park when a man approached us, pointed to new dark stains near the benches, and blamed cats for them.
Many people say cats spread diseases.
My family and other cat lovers have been in contact with the strays for years and we are still perfectly healthy.
When I got sick in the past, for example with the flu, it was because I caught it from a classmate. A human, by the way.
Instead of treating strays as pests to be eradicated, we should lend them a hand.
They are not pieces of garbage which we can throw away at will.
They are living, feeling creatures, not to be ill-treated or, worse, culled.